Do you have photos, historical accounts or
other items pertaining to the Kinney area? Would you like to
share this historical information with the world?
LakesnWoods.com would like to publish your Kinney photos
(current or historical) or historical accounts on this website.
Original materials can be returned and your privacy will be
respected.

Kinney is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota.
Nearby US Highway 169 serves as a main arterial route in the community.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 4.8 square miles (12.6 km˛), of which, 4.6 square miles (11.8 km˛) of
it is land and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km˛) of it (5.77%) is water. The
elevation is 1,542 ft (470 m) above sea level.

As of the census of 2000, there were 199 people, 82
households, and 61 families residing in the city. The
population density was 43.6 people per square mile
(16.8/km˛). There were 88 housing units at an average
density of 19.3/sq mi (7.4/km˛). The racial makeup of the
city was 94.47% White, 2.01% Native American, and 3.52% from
two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.02%
of the population. 25.3% were of Finnish, 19.2% German, 8.9%
Irish, 8.2% Norwegian, 6.8% Swedish, 6.2% French Canadian
and 6.2% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 82 households out of which
31.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them,
61.0% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a
female householder with no husband present, and 24.4% were
non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of
individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65
years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40
and the average family size was 2.73.

In the city the population was spread out
with 25.6% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 24, 28.1%
from 25 to 44, 22.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.1% who were 65
years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For
every 100 females there were 111.7 males. For every 100
females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.

The median income for a household in the
city was $25,000, and the median income for a family was
$33,125. Males had a median income of $31,667 versus $17,361
for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,756.
About 9.4% of families and 13.6% of the population were
below the poverty line, including 29.4% of those under the
age of eighteen and none of those sixty five or over.

Kinney, a city in section 15, Great Scott Township (T.
58N, R. 19W), incorporated as a village on November 11, 1910, was named in
honor of O. D. Kinney, a discoverer of the iron mines of Virginia and a
founder of that city. The post office began in 1907.

1978 Republic of Kinney Passport, 0046 By 1977, the City of
Kinney, with a population of 325 according to the 1970 census, suffered from
a failing water system, and was faced with a staggering replacement cost of
$186,000. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to secure funding from state
and federal agencies due to bureaucratic red tape, agencies such as:
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Federal Housing
Authority (FHA), and the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Commission
(IRRRC), the city council was lead to believe that it would be easier to
receive foreign aid if Kinney seceded from the union, declared war, and lost
immediately. Mayor Mary Anderson and a supportive Kinney City Council sent
the following July 13, 1977, 'tongue-in-cheek' secession letter to U.S.
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance.

City of Kinney
Clerk’s Office
KINNEY, MINNESOTA 55758

July 13, 1977

Honorable Cyrus Vance
Secretary of State
Washington, D.C.

BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the
City of Kinney, in Kinney, Minnesota, has decided to secede from
the United States of America, and become a foreign country. Our
area is large enough for it. We are twelve square blocks, three
blocks wide and four blocks long. We will be similar to Monaco.
It is much easier to get assistance as a foreign country, which
we need badly, and there is no paper work to worry about. If
necessary, we will be glad to declare war and lose. However, if
this is a requirement, we would appreciate being able to
surrender real quick, as our Mayor works as a nurse in a
hospital, and most of our council members work in a nearby mine
and cannot get much time off from work.

The secession was never officially
acknowledged by Vance or the U.S. The news story broke locally in the Mesabi
Daily News on February 5, 1978, in an article by Ginny Wennen entitled "Move
over Monaco, here comes Kinney." The story garnered national and
international attention beginning on February 7, 1978, when the story was
featured on the NBC Nightly News with David Brinkley.

Jeno Paulucci, a businessman based out of Duluth,
Minnesota, was the first to acknowledge the new republic and offer ‘foreign
aid’ in the form of a dark brown 1974 Ford LTD police squad car and 10 cases
of Jenos Sausage Pizza Mix on February 13, 1978. The squad car was painted
with a Republic of Kinney shield on the driver’s side that read “Commander
in Chief, Republic of Kinney,” and “Chief of Police, Kinney, MN.” on the
passenger side.

In November 1978, the Iron Range Resources and
Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) approved $198,000 grant, allocated in three
payments of $66,000 per year from the Taconite Area Environmental Protection
Fund, to repair the existing water system, construct cement runoff basins,
and install additional fire hydrants.

The Republic of Kinney would go on to create and sell over
2,500 passports at $1.00 a piece, buttons, t-shirts, and even a summer
festival called ‘Secession Days’, which was first held during the weekend of
August 1&2, 1987.

The City of Kinney will celebrate the 30th Anniversary of its "independence"
as the Republic of Kinney during the weekend of July 13-15, 2007.

The
Taconite State Trail stretches 165 miles from Grand Rapids to Ely
and intersects with the Arrowhead State Trail just west of Lake
Vermillion. Portions are paved for biking and in-line skating. The
remainder of the natural surface trail is used primarily for
snowmobiling in the winter. The trail goes through a few areas that
have standing water in the summer, however portions of the trail are
suitable for horseback riding, hiking, and mountain biking.

The Taconite Trail winds through forests of birch
and aspen intertwined with pine, leading the visitor by many
isolated lakes and streams. From Grand Rapids heading north, you see
the impact of the taconite and iron mining industry. The northern
portion of the trail terrain is rolling and tree covered as it winds
through state and national forest land.